The Chicken Nest

lifelibertysilliness: Please read this fabulous poem by a 9...

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 11:27:40 -0500

Please read this fabulous poem by a 9 year old, entitled “I Love You Chicken”

I picked up bales of straw for the chickens this past week....

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 20:56:00 -0400

I picked up bales of straw for the chickens this past week. I’ll probably pick up more before the month is over in hopes of having enough stockpiled for winter and spring. We use straw inside of the coop but also as the choice material for deep bedding. My girls (and Arlo, though he’d never admit it) have been on cloud 9 these past few days. This is a great run-down of the benefits of deep bedding for backyard flocks:

Deep bedding solves a whole lot of chicken-related problems in one easy step:

It goes a long way toward controlling odor.

It reduces flies (it not only absorbs poop, it actually fosters parasites that kill fly eggs)

It makes the coop area much more attractive to look at.

It gives the chickens more to do (i.e. scratch) which keeps them happy, which keeps them from developing bad behaviors

It saves you work, because you don’t have to clean it out very often. Maybe not at all. Depending on your set up.

"I remember an old farmer telling me once that, with livestock, the important thing is to think..."

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 15:18:41 -0400

“I remember an old farmer telling me once that, with livestock, the important thing is to think through the relationship. You’re supposed to be building a pleasant present and a better future. Unless that’s where things are headed, it’s time to make changes. He expressed this as, “There’s a livestock auction every Thursday.” What he meant was that we can end an unsuccessful relationship quickly — and we should, because when things go sour, everyone’s a loser. It’s time for someone else to give it a try.”

- Help for Aggressive Roosters - Mother Earth News

Surprisingly sage relationship advice in an article about aggressive roosters.

(via apsies)

I recruited my brother this weekend to help me clean up the...

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 10:47:00 -0400

I recruited my brother this weekend to help me clean up the chicken coop and run a bit. By recruited and help, I mean he did all of the work of course. I’m still incredibly nervous around Arlo after he tried to kill me. (Slight exaggeration, of course, but I’m pretty sure he would if he could.) Side note: I was reading a blog this weekend and the author said one of the pictures was of her rooster problem, “the problem being that we have a rooster.” I thought, yes, I know that feeling.

But I digress. The run was a mess. Kale stems, corn cobs, and various bit of rinds from a variety of fruits and veggies were everywhere. It felt silly to sweep dirt to ‘clean up’ but there we were. The inside of the coop was full of last year’s straw which was less than appealing. Sometime this week I have to go pick up fresh bales. The chickens will be thrilled.

Coming soon: Arlo needs to have his spurs trimmed. I’d prefer to not be around when that happens but I don’t think I’m going to get out of it. If you have any advice I’d love to hear it.

Had our first chicken hawk experience this morning. I heard Arlo...

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 10:43:22 -0400

Had our first chicken hawk experience this morning. I heard Arlo carrying on and when I looked outside to see what was up there was a chicken hawk lurking just outside of the run. The hens had all moved inside the coop while Arlo stood his ground. Proud of that dumb rooster. Despite our differences he’s earning his keep I guess.

(This is not directed toward Tumblr, but) For the thousandth time

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 22:40:00 -0400

No, you don’t need a rooster for you hens to lay eggs. Does saying this stop people from disagreeing or thinking I’m crazy? No, it doesn’t.

I’m so tired of this discussion and the inevitable disbelief that it makes me almost wish I didn’t have Arlo just so I could prove it to people.

Women ovulate without the assistance from a man. Hens are no different. This should not be a difficult concept for folks to grasp. And yet…

I let the chickens try bananas a couple of nights ago. Arlo...

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 21:01:06 -0400

I let the chickens try bananas a couple of nights ago. Arlo loved it and kept ripping off huge bites.

One of the most satisfying things for me this summer has been...

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 21:54:27 -0400

One of the most satisfying things for me this summer has been collecting eggs right along goodies from the garden.

Arlo just attacked me and chased me out of the coop. He...

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 14:19:00 -0400

Arlo just attacked me and chased me out of the coop. He didn’t actually hurt me but visions of a mangled leg drove me to run for my life, with Arlo chasing me to the back door the whole way; it was a mess. I’m sure I just gave the neighbors a good show.

He only acts this way with me. Asshole.

Final Thoughts on Maggie, the broody hen

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 12:55:06 -0400

After two unsuccessful attempts at sitting on eggs, the second of which conveniently ended during a heatwave, it appears Miss Maggie is finally over her desires to be a mother. Since the eggs hatched on Friday she has moved from her constant vigil inside of the coop to the nicer shaded area outside with the rest of the flock. I’m fine with this. The only reason I let her sit was because she seemed so determined, I didn’t feel like breaking her from the habit, and I thought it might be fun.

Never mind all of that. This last hatching was all of my fault. I had intended to move Maggie and her eggs to a separate space closer to hatch day. But I wasn’t quite sure when she started sitting on the eggs and had miscalculated by a couple of days. This might not have been an issue if the hen sitting had been, say, Loretta who is much higher in the pecking order. A successful hen mama needs to be aggressive from the moment her chicks hatch. Maggie was not a great protector. The result is four dead baby chicks.

After feeling guilty and upset I’m mostly over the whole thing. I don’t intend to hatch my own chicks, ever. Everyone I’ve talked to says even the most seasoned chicken pros have trouble hatching with both broody hens and incubators. It’s just not worth the time and effort, and potential heartbreak, to me. The girls are all still wonderful layers. When production slows, or god forbid we lose any hens, I’ll add a couple more chickens to the bunch but they’ll be breeds I don’t already own. I’ve already got my eye on the chocolate eggs layed by French Marans.

The third baby chicken died.

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 17:44:33 -0400

The third baby chicken died.:

apsies:

That’s four total in the last two months for those keeping score at home. I don’t even want to discuss it.

I just felt like I should provide some kind of update to the previous post.

I am the worst. I’m never hatching eggs again.

How the Chicken Conquered the World | History & Archaeology | Smithsonian Magazine

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 23:09:18 -0400

How the Chicken Conquered the World | History & Archaeology | Smithsonian Magazine

When you raise chickens and frequently google things you're always one click away from a doomsday prep blog.

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 23:39:15 -0400

It’s frightening. I try not to judge but there is a subset of homesteading kind of people who are completely bonkers.

I recently applied some tree pruning sealer to Miss Ruby in...

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 20:36:03 -0400

I recently applied some tree pruning sealer to Miss Ruby in hopes that the area on her back where she has lost feathers will heal and grow back. I read about this in one of the chicken magazines and if nothing else it seems to be protecting her from sunburn.

Maggie continues to sit on eggs. After the last catastrophe we allowed her to sit on one more. Then she rejected it, for good reason since it was rotten. So now she’s sitting on three of Loretta’s eggs. Since Loretta carries the green egg gene, and she’s Arlo’s favorite lady so fertilization chances are good, I’m happy with the decision to just let her sit on those. We shall see how the next go round goes soon.

My dad and brother are building a modified chicken tractor so the flock can ‘free-range’ around the yard without the threat of predators killing them. Someone once told me a free range bird is a dead bird and I firmly believe that motto. I don’t let mine loose without supervision so I’m looking forward to them getting access to more green stuff without having to keep a close eye on them.

Yet another neighbor has expressed interest in chickens of their own. This thrills me!

do you sell/give away any of the excess eggs you have?

Mon, 28 May 2012 17:14:00 -0400

I give away all of the excess eggs. That is when I’m organized enough to clean them and take them to people. My neighbors and friends are all big fans of my backyard eggs.

Unofficial cause of death: accidental chicken homicide

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:53:31 -0400

We’ve discussed all possible theories surrounding the death of the baby chick yesterday and based on evidence at the scene (splayed out chick directly under the roosting pole) we’ve determined somebody must have hopped off the roosting pole and stepped on it. Isn’t that just sad?

Maggie is sitting on the eggs that were laid today. Later I’ll have mark them. I guess we’re going for it again.

I candled the 2nd egg this morning. It was just sloshy and rotten. So no baby chicks.

Fri, 25 May 2012 09:01:02 -0400

I was sad yesterday over the dead chick but I had hope because there was one more to go. Now I’m just devastated.

Day 21, tragedy strikes. At some point this baby hatched. My...

Thu, 24 May 2012 20:09:27 -0400

Day 21, tragedy strikes. At some point this baby hatched. My brother found it dead. Still waiting on egg #2 to hatch. They decided not to tell me over the phone and my dad mysteriously needed me to pick up Kleenex on my way home. He knows me so well.

I just had to ask my adult neighbor not to run around the chicken coop with his kid

Sun, 20 May 2012 21:02:19 -0400

Arlo never crows except when he wants food or feels threatened. He was crowing like crazy. I don’t want Arlo to get aggressive. I also don’t want to end up losing my rooster because some idiot and his kid can’t control themselves and could end up hurt because of it. My heart is still pounding because I hate confrontation but I work so hard on socializing Arlo and making him feel comfortable and safe around people. I don’t want to lose the progress we’ve made because they think it’s funny when he crows and chases them.

Confession: I just declared egg bankruptcy

Sun, 20 May 2012 18:29:52 -0400

I’ve found it can be difficult to manage the influx of eggs during the spring and summer months if you are not highly organized and diligent about getting rid of them in a timely fashion. I fail at this all the time. I do great for a couple of weeks and then suddenly the eggs start piling up on the counter and before I know it I don’t know which are the freshest and which aren’t. And while a quick dip in water would tell me how long ago one was laid it seems like entirely too daunting a task to undertake.

Sigh.

So this morning I sorted through roughly 90 or so eggs. Yes, I realize your jaw probably just dropped. That is roughly 18 days or so worth of eggs. I hardboiled around 2 dozen, fried a couple for the dogs to enjoy, and made breakfast for dinner. The rest were cracked at the end of the yard for various animals to come enjoy and I saved the shells for my garden.

It feels great to just be rid of them. Now I’ve got a plan for collection and storage for the next week. Hopefully next time I’ll do better. Now that the herbs are growing and I have more free time I’d love to put together gifts like this.